Jammer laughs off latest snub

Chargers defensive back Quentin Jammer makes an interception against the Bengals recently. Jammer was named the team's Defensive Player of the Year but wasn't a Pro Bowl selection.
— Nelvin C. Cepeda / Union-Tribune

Chargers defensive back Quentin Jammer makes an interception against the Bengals recently. Jammer was named the team's Defensive Player of the Year but wasn't a Pro Bowl selection.
— Nelvin C. Cepeda / Union-Tribune

“I still make comments to my wife like, ‘I got snubbed again,’ ” he said yesterday, a day after Pro Bowl voting was announced. “It’s a running joke around the house — ‘All right, today Daddy is going to be pretty (mad). The Pro Bowl team was announced.’ ”

Jammer laughed long and loud before saying, “It doesn’t really make me mad, I know what I mean to this team, and that’s all that matters.”

Indeed.

For the first time in his eight seasons, Jammer was recognized in voting by his teammates as their Defensive Player of the Year. Actually, befitting a team that has relied on so many players, Jammer shared the honor with linebacker Shaun Phillips, whose big plays saved the team on many drives.

“I think it means more that my teammates voted me in than some guy who doesn’t know diddly squat about football,” Jammer said.

Jammer, who tied Antonio Cromartie for the team lead with three interceptions, has been targeted 78 times and allowed just 41 receptions this season. The 52.6 percent completion rate is ninth-best among AFC cornerbacks who were targeted as often as Jammer. But only two of the players ahead of Jammer allowed fewer yards on those receptions.

The selection of the three cornerbacks voted onto the AFC Pro Bowl squad can’t be argued. The New York Jets’ Darrelle Revis has six interceptions and allowed just 39 receptions in 103 times targeted. Oakland’s Nnamdi Asomugha remains the most feared corner in the game, as he was targeted just 30 times all season (though he allowed 21 completions). Nine-time Pro Bowler Champ Bailey of Denver allowed just 43 receptions in 92 times targeted.

“The guys who are in it definitely belong; they had great seasons,” Jammer said. “But what did I do that was so different from what they did?”

Running the East?

With a victory Sunday against the Washington Redskins, the Chargers would sweep the NFC East for the first time ever. It has special meaning to them because of the division’s reputation.

“I still think it’s the toughest division in football,” LaDainian Tomlinson said. “I think it says a lot about our team being ready to play against that division. … It’s more a credit to what we’ve done than anything.”

The NFC East, despite the 4-11 Redskins, is tied with the NFC South for the second-best combined record in the NFL, behind the AFC South.

“I’m pleased with the way our team has played against the NFC East,” head coach Norv Turner said. “Having the wins we have against those teams and playing at the level we’ve played against those teams, I think it says something about or team.”